Lifesavers split on new helmets rule

Veteran surf lifesavers are split on a decision by Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) to make its members wear helmets and lifejackets.

SLSA is making lifejackets mandatory for lifesavers on rescue boats at surf meets and on patrols from October 2014.

It also says all surf boat rowers and sweeps will have to wear helmets from January 2014.

The changes come after surf lifesaver Matthew Barclay, 14, drowned in March 2012 at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

In 2010, 19-year-old Saxon Bird died during the same carnival at the Gold Coast's Kurrawa Beach.

Chris Flemming, an Australian championship winning sweep with three decades' experience at Sydney's South Curl Curl SLSC, labelled the new helmet rule an over reaction.

"We haven't had too much trouble in the past, I don't know why they should be bringing them in now," Mr Flemming said.

"We've been doing this for 100 years. Tragically, one kid died after being hit by a surfboat in terrible conditions they shouldn't have been competing in.

"If you look at the number of head injuries in surfboats it's virtually nil."

But surfboat builder, coach and rower Nathan Perry said helmets had become an inevitable part of the sport.

"We're at a point in the sport where we have to take every precaution we can," said Mr Perry, who rowed at the 1996 Australian titles at Kurrawa in which another boy, 15-year-old rower Robert Gatenby, died.

"I don't think we have much left up our sleeves to be honest, if we have any more deaths," he added.

Under the SLSA's new rules, all competitors at the Australia Surf Life Saving Championships would also need to meet certain "aquatic rescue" standards from 2015.

The organisation's chief executive, Greg Nance, says the measures are part of an ongoing focus on safety.

"These changes and tests are nothing new for our movement. Since 1907 we have continued to innovate, test and update our rescue equipment from the belt and reel to the inflatable rescue boat," Mr Nance said in a statement.